Oct 23, 2013

If you're a fan of our blog, then you've likely gathered that my 6 year old daughter loves to sew. (See here, here, here, and most recently here for example!) At the drop of a button, literally, she'll come running up asking "what are we making mama?" If ever I'm contemplating sewing a project for myself, she'll want to join in and the project inevitably morphs into something for her. That's all well and good of course, but if I'm every going to get any sewing done, she needs some of her own dedicated hours behind the machine to whet her sewing appetite! More practice will also allow for more independence, and I'd certainly welcome the opportunity to sew in tandem, she at her very own machine. So, we decided to schedule a kids sewing hour, with my son Aidan and his friend Annika joining in as well. I found this simple tutorial from Skip to my Lou on how to make fabric bookmarks, a great project idea for our inaugural meeting!

Of course, the kids couldn't decide on just one fabric - if you walked through our labyrinth of shelves here at the shop you'd understand why! For the sake of simplicity, I encouraged them to narrow their picks to just two fabrics. However, I quickly realized that wouldn't in any way diminish the complexity of their overall designs. Their drawings above were a bit ambitous, but who wants to curtail a child's creativity?!

Annie's design alone called for a lot of seams so I called for backup from our wonderful staff. Our Meaghan happily assisted Aidan with his half square triangle design.

Not only does this 8 year old boy like to sew, but as you can see from his t-shirt he's completely mad for The Beatles. He's going to be quite a catch one day! Our manager Becky took point with Annika. She appliqued a wavy piece of fabric on top of her floral book mark, making for a sweetly whimsical design.

I worked with Annie, and with her intricate design we definitely had our work cut out for us! Once we had all of her pieces cut out, she really wanted minimal instruction...and more speed. Luckily our machines have a speed setting as she's got quite he heavy foot!

Truth be told, this sewing hour turned into a 2 1/2 hour get together, but the kids left with a handmade bookmark and a spring in their step. As for their instructors, Becky, Meaghan and I really loved seeing the variety in compostion between the three kids. I think they suprised us and themselves with their patient dedication and intricate handiwork.

If anyone has any suggestions for our next kiddie sewing hour, please leave us a comment!

Sep 27, 2013

I just love weekends that start like this - with a stack of fabric and an eager child...

and end like this - with a beautiful girl and her equally beautiful bag she's just sewn up with mama.

Charlie was off for an overnight boys adventure with our son Aidan, so I had Annie to myself for an entire day. Wanting to make our alone time equally memorable, she declared it "girls day" and wanted to fill every moment with doing something special. Naturally, she promptly requested a sewing project. Like any six year old, Annie likes to tote around her stuffed animals, arts and crafts projects, interesting leaves, pretty stones, and any other treasures she finds in her travels. So, we decided she needed a tote bag big enough to carry around her loot, and pretty enough to hint at those riches within.

Annie likes things to feel "cozy" so she selected a Velveteen and Flannel from Anna Maria Horner. She also decided that two fabrics are fancier than one, and I had to agree. Not being able to decide which fabric she liked better, we made the bag
reversible so as to keep her options open. We didn't use a pattern, and
simply cut out our rectangles for the outside of the bag, the lining,
the two straps, and the pockets. To give the bag a bit more body we also
gave it some boxed corners. Head over to Sew 4 Home for clear step by step instructions if you've not tried this before!

After sewing our lined pockets onto the outer linings of our bag, and then making the inner and outer tubes of the bag, we simply slid our straps in between those linings.

If you've never sewn a reversible bag with boxed corners here's a tutorial from Dana Made It
that achieves a very similar look. You could easily modify the design
to include pockets and opt out of the contrasting bottom if you wish.

And here's the finished bag! We only had to use our seam ripper a few times. You know how it goes, "a time to tear, a time to sew."

In fact, that Turn, Turn, Turn song came on the radio as we were sewing together. I have to say I got a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat as I thought about time itself, and how we never seem to have enough of it.

So I think I'll take a nod from the song and from my daughter - time passes on but I'll certainly try to relish the moments that we do have together as a mother and
daughter.

These are the moments I'll take with me from the day - seeing Annie wear her pride proudly, along with her pretty new bag. Hopefully she will remember that as well.

If not, then perhaps she'll remember the trip to town afterwards to get her nails done, pay a visit to the bookstore, have a bite to eat, and to enjoy some ice cream for dessert.

Of course, it's also possible she'll simply remebmer that she got to have ice cream and her brother didn't!

Here's to stitching together some memories I'll never forget, and for taking the time to smell the flowers on a very special girls day!

May 28, 2012

To all of our friends states-side, we hope you all enjoyed this Memorial Day! After a fun weekend of hiking and swimming it was time for our family to relax on this holiday with some sewing. My daughter wanted to "make something pink" and after some rather lavish design ideas from miss Annie, I convinced her to forgo the superhero fairy-princess dress and opt instead for an easy applique pillow. If you have small kids with an interest in sewing, and who like to be in the driver's seat behind the sewing machine, I'd recommend whipping one up together.

We started with a Fat Quarter Bundle of Woodland Tails from Sheri Berry Designs, which comes with a great panel print. Since we used a 16" square pillow form, a single FQ did the trick for the pillow top and another for the back. Annie surprised me by selecting the orange fox as her centerpiece - I was all ready to cut out the pink lamb. I suppose she agrees with Pantone that it's the color of the moment! Then again, she handpicked her chevron top so perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised each time she dazzles me with her keen fashion sense. My son Aidan got as far as picking out his fabrics, but moved onto greener pastures to play basketball with Dad. I'll keep trying there...

If you've followed our blog you might remember Annie's tunic and scarf, so she's not entirely new to sewing and we easily completed the pillow in about 90 minutes. But if your child is new sewer, this is still a great place to start. If you are a beginner as well, here's a great tutorial for a simple envelope style pillow like the one we made today. For the applique, we simply cut out the circle, and affixed it to the pillowtop with a zig zag stitch (similar to this design I did here);

Now don't let me fool you, sewing at home with a five year old is not without its challenges. With all of the cutting, ironing, and pinning, sometimes the pace just isn't fast enough and, as you can see, they're not always rapt with attention. Forgetting that most of my tools are at the shop and having to improvise whilst cutting out the centerpiece doesn't help either...

One of the biggest challenges is enforcing a speed limit. Let's just say Annie's got a lead foot when she's at the pedal...

But once the machine is whirring away, I'm still amazed by her careful concentration. I am quite sure that I can feel her pride swell with every stitch.

Jun 19, 2011

It's always a little unnerving letting someone else behind the foot of your sewing machine, which becomes quite an understatement when that someone is 4 yrs old. But the moment my daugher gave the pedal "some gas", as she says, and ever so calmly and carefully sewed stith by stitch, she put all of my nerves at ease. You might remember my first experience sewing with my daughter Annie, and I've been determined to foster her already keen interest in sewing. When Annie asked if we could "sew something Mama", I jumped at the opportunity to make a tunic I'd already had in my repetoire of future projects.

I purchased this Tunic from Sew Sweet Patterns on Etsy, and was really impressed with the simplicity of the pattern pieces itself, and the clarity of the instructions. I even decided I could take a back seat to the machine and let Annie do most of the sewing herelf. After she selected her fabric, a print from Josephine Kimberling's Just Dandy collection, and I pinned the pieces together, she was ready to go.

With only the slightest instruction from me

and a helping hand here and there to keep her on track, she zipped along with ease.

I think she could sense my nerves still lingering ever so slightly beneath my calm demeanor. Annie likes to wait until the last possible second to stop the pedal before removing each pin "just in time!", and would exclaim as such with each ensuing pin.

She would even tease me saying "you didn't think I was gonna get it time huh Mama?!" At four years old she already knows how to play with my emotions...

Here it is, a sweet tunic dress simple enough for even the tiniest of seamstresses. She accomplished all of the straight line stitching herself, and I helped out with the curved piecing around the neck and armholes.

The only modifications we made to the dress were opting for a sleeveless version since we're entering summer, and adding a border hem since Annie decided it "needs more pink". We chose one of my favorite blenders, the Oval Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics.

So if you're looking for a way to stop and smell the roses, as it were, and share your love of sewing with your little one I highly recommend trying out one of these designs from Sew Sweet Patterns.

Because don't we all know too well, our little ones are here one minute and gone the next!

Jan 02, 2011

I love the dawning of an idea, when suddently you have that eureka! moment and its suddenly clear as day what you'd like to do. Unlike my right-brained husband Charlie, I'm not one for lists. (He has a good 5 per day folks) I'm not terribly fond of New Year's resolutions either, for fear of the overachiever in me running rampant with lofty, unattainable goals. The perfectionist in me couldn't live with letting myself down in that way, so it's just best to let my left brain take over and go with the flow. Charlie and I are very yin and yang that way so it works out rather nicely.

Throughout the hustle and bustle that preceeds the holidays, we have a constant stream of Christmas music playing, with some favorites played in heavy rotation. Perhaps its because I was born in the year of his death, or maybe just because the Beatles music served as the soundtrack to much of my childhood, I found myself listening to John Lennon's Happy Christmas once again for the umpteenth time this December. With his unmistakable voice that is sharp yet sweet, with just the right amount of melancholchy, he sings:

So this is Christmas And what have you done Another year over And a new one just begun And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun The near and the dear ones The old and the young

Listening to his words it was suddenly clear as day what I wanted to do in this new year - it's finally time to let my nearly four year old daughter try her hand at sewing. When I asked her if she'd like to try she beamed with excitement.

But as soon as she sat in front of the machine, she was quiet as a mouse, and you could literally hear one of my pins drop when I explained the workings of the machine.

When Annie was finally ready to give it a whirl, she was all business with an air of sophisticated calmness and concentration beyond her years.

I don't know what 2011 will bring, or what ideas and goals we'll cook up along the way, but I'm certain I'd like to see plenty more of this. The look of shy pride that crawled across her face was amazing to see. As I looked down at my daughter, wearing her handmade scarf, I'm sure my expression mirrored her own.

Sewing with children, and the age at which they start, will of course vary according to each child's unique personality, patience, and interest. For those interested in sewing with your kids this year, I found this book via The Long Thread

If anyone has come across any other resources, or suggestions from your own experience sewing with children, please feel free to share!